Five and twenty

India to lift restrictions on airlines operating internationally

The idea has been discussed, debated and flogged to death for years but it finally appears India is getting close to scrapping the contentious 5/20 rule which bars its carriers from operating internationally unless they have a fleet of at least 20 aircraft and have been flying for five years. Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has made it clear the regulation “has to go” and his department is now finalising a replacement policy.

It is all part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the nation, to revitalise the economy, spur growth and investment as well making the aviation industry more liberal and, hopefully, easing some of the burden airlines bear in the form of high taxation and over-restrictive rules. The question is whether allowing a sudden wave of new offshore flying will help or simply create far more competition, spark fare wars and worsen the fiscal position of a sector that has lost a staggering $11 billion plus over the past ten years.